Howard, Grazer crafting reality pilot for TNT

'Great Escape' puts contestants in cinema-inspired situations

Ron Howard and Brian Grazer are crafting an action-adventure reality show pilot for TNT that challenges contestants to escape from big-screen-inspired situations.

In "The Great Escape," ordinary people are put in cinema-inspired settings, challenging them to find a way out using everyday ingenuity. Each week, teams are dropped off blindfolded in a different extreme environment -- lost in the desert, trapped in the mountains, locked in a prison, marooned on an island.

The team must figure their way out through multiple stages and escape to win a cash prize.

"Escape" is from Imagine Entertainment and Fox TV Studios, executive produced by Justin Hochberg, Grazer, Howard and David Nevins. This marks one of several current network pilots for Hochberg, who through his Hochberg Ebersol Co. also has projects set up at Cartoon Network, Style and the CW.

With the pilot shot, the project is a bit further along than a somewhat similar-sounding action-based reality show featuring an A-list Hollywood director that was recently announced -- Michael Bay's untitled reality series, which hasn't yet been set up at a network.

TNT is a fledgling player in the unscripted space, launching its first reality effort just last year (Mark Burnett's "Wedding Day").